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Technology and the Internet in Latin America

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Technology use in LatAmEmerging markets including LatAm are significantly outstripping the West in terms of technology adoption. Whereas the West is used to high levels of technology ownership, including PCs, fixed line telephones and fixed line Internet, Latin America doesn’t have the same level of infrastructure. Businesses looking to grow their presence in the region are therefore finding innovative ways of harnessing the technology that does exist there – one of the reasons that Internet-enabled mobile is taking off so quickly.

Technology and the Internet in Latin America

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Mobile and social mobilityThe future of digital is mobile, particularly in Latin America, where handheld technology is enabling and empowering new generations of consumers and increasing social mobility. Lower GDP per capita tends to mean lower levels of tech ownership, but mobile has strong usage levels across the board, with 82% of consumers in Latin America owning a handset.In this way mobiles are helping to bridge the divide between rich and poor, and between people in rural and urban areas. These are many Latin American consumers’ only link to the online world, with many ‘leapfrogging’ web-based sites to skip straight to their mobile counterparts. For example, many people’s first experience of online banking will be via their mobile phone.

Hot products to watchThere is a particularly strong interest in tablets in the region – stronger than in the US and very close to European demand levels – and there’s evidence that this interest is translating into actual purchases more than in other emerging markets. One in five of Latin American consumers plan to buy a tablet in the next six months if they don’t own one already. Massive demand for smartphones is opening up a battle between Nokia’s Symbian OS and Google’s Android in the race to bring phones to market that meet consumer demand, secure share of wallet and start to win the platform wars.

Country Mobile Internet available on phone

2010 2011 2012

Argentina 30.2 55.1 68.2

Brazil 29.9 43.2 70.6

Chile - 69.4 74.9

Colombia 25.2 - 67.1

Costa Rica - 34.4 -

Guatemala 16.8 17.4 -

Mexico 26.7 33.0 79.2

Source: TNS Mobile Life 2012

Technology and the Internet in Latin America

82%of consumers in Latin America own a handset

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Social media The social media revolution is taking over the world, and with 34% of LatAm consumers saying they feel they can express themselves better online, the Internet is likely to play a greater and greater role in all kinds of social interaction.

Social networking is the second most popular service activity on the mobile in LatAm (20%), behind uploading photos/videos to a personal computer (32%). In addition, consumers are looking to increase the number of activities they are doing in social media, so there are myriad opportunities for businesses to get in on the action by providing new online products and services.

Latin American consumers have a far stronger affinity to content brands compared to other developing markets. The most accessed brands tend to be global brands such as Google, YouTube and Facebook. Only 12% of LatAm consumers are accessing Orkut via their mobiles, versus 25% who are doing so with Facebook, showing that the latter still has the most potential for companies looking to engage with new consumers via social media.

20%

32%

of mobile activity is social networking compare to...

uploading photos/videos to a personal computer

Correlation between GDP per capita and number of technology devices owned; source: IMF / TNS Mobile Life

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Implications for businessesThe most enlightened companies are fast capitalising on the demand for mobile services, recognising that mobile is not just an extension of a company’s web

Country

Consumers using mobile banking(Checking bank accounts, making purchases securely

from mobile)

2010 2011 2012

Argentina 4.2 8.9 12.2

Brazil 9.8 20.9 20.4

Chile - 11.8 20.2

Costa Rica - 2.1 -

Guatemala 3.4 1.2 -

Mexico 0.6 1.8 18.3

Kenya 5.6 17.7 23.2

India 1.9 1.3 1.7

Source: TNS Mobile Life 2012

Country Current tablet

ownership Intend to purchase a tablet

within next 6 months

Argentina 4.7 14.6

Brazil 6.3 17.7

Chile 8.4 18.4

Colombia 7.1 23.2

Mexico 8.8 20.3

Source: TNS Mobile Life 2012

strategy, but an entirely different medium requiring its own bespoke approach.

Also, whilst many companies will be broaching new territory, the basics still apply. Mobile services still need to be relevant to consumers, be easy to use, and – especially given the target market – affordable. Whilst mobile banking service mPesa has revolutionised banking in rural Kenya, the same kind of service has not flourished in India due to poor service delivery.

Latin America can learn from these successes and failures, but ultimately solutions need to be closely tailored to the local market: there is no place for a cookie cutter approach.

Technology and the Internet in Latin America

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About MobileLifeMobile Life is an annual investigation into behaviours, motivations and priorities of the world’s mobile phone users. Now in its seventh year, Mobile Life is the most comprehensive view of how the world’s consumers are using their phones today and the opportunities that this presents for brands. A snapshot of the findings can be found at www.tnsglobal.com/mobilelife.

About InFocusInFocus is part of a regular series of articles that takes an in-depth look at a particular subject, region or demographic in more detail. All articles are written by TNS consultants and based on their expertise gathered through working on client assignments in over 80 markets globally, with additional insights gained through TNS proprietary studies, such as Digital Life and Mobile Life.

About TNS TNS advises clients on specific growth strategies around new market entry, innovation, brand switching and stakeholder management, based on long-established expertise and market-leading solutions. With a presence in over 80 countries, TNS has more conversations with the world’s consumers than anyone else and understands individual human behaviours and attitudes across every cultural, economic and political region of the world. TNS is part of Kantar, one of the world’s largest insight, information and consultancy groups.

Please visit www.tnsglobal.com for more information.

Get in touch If you would like to talk to us about anything you have read in this report, please get in touch via enquiries@tnsglobal.com or via Twitter @tns_global

About the AuthorJames Fergusson is the Global Head, Digital and Technology Practice at TNS, leading a group of global experts focused on helping clients to apply digital to fuel their growth strategy.

Australian by birth, James has 18 years’ experience in market research, across several agencies. James is a specialist in technology and telecommunications across both rapid growth and developed markets. He has worked with most of the world’s major companies in this sector and is increasingly applying working with clients in a more diverse range of sectors.

For more information please visit

www.tnsglobal.com enquiries@tnsglobal.com or Twitter @tns_global